Assorting machine



Dec. 18, 1928. 1,695,395

L. W. TIFFANY AS SORTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 14, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 @OQQQQQ moo-oow @00o@ INVENTOR [wen-alt a) \7 I ,4, 5 I 7" Z) ATTORNEYS Dec. 18, 1928;

1,695,395 L. W. TIFFANY ASSORTING MACHINE I Filed Sept. 14, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [m u Q Q IIIIIIIlIIIIIl/IIII/IIII; I

a Q e BY 7 ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 18, 1928.

UNITED. STATES vP ATE'NT ()FFICE;

LEVERETT w. TIFFANY, or wms'rnn, oonnnc'rrovr;

ASSORTING ACHINE.

Application "filed September This invention relates to an assorting machine of improved construction and specifi' cally stated aims to provide a device of this character particularly adapted for use in the 'assorting and packaging of pins.

It is anobject of the invention to' provide a machine of this type which in certain respects will present an improved construction over that embodied in my co-pending application, Serial No. 717,678, filed June 41, 1924, in that the articles being assorted will be more. expeditiously and efliciently handled and distributed and in that, further, the likelihood of error will be reduced to aminimum.

fAn additionalobject is that of providing an assorting machine which will efficiently" v perform the tended, and w ich will also be economically and readily manufactured and easily asurposes for which it is in sembled'.'

' and objects of the. invention reference should Otherobje'cts of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingl'y'comp'rises the 7 features of construction, combination of ele- 'ments and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the application ofrwhich will be indicated in the claims.

Fora fuller understanding of the nature be had .to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan'view'of one form of machine embodying the improved construction iofothe present invention, certain of the parts being broken away to disclose the underlying construction Fig.2 is a sectional side view taken on the lines 2-2arid in the direction of the ar rows in Fig, 1; c Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation of the machine as shown inthe preceding figures; and

a Figure 4 1s a fragmentary sectionalsideview of certain of the parts-shown in Fig.

14, 1925. Serial No. 56,155, I

riage S is movably mounted upon these rails.

It will be here noted that these rails are:

positioned adjacent to therear edge of the machine. Further rails 9 are provided adjacent the forward edge of the machine and are also seemed to the side walls thereof These'latter rails extend longitudinally of the machine body and mount between them a carriage 10 which latter occupies a position materially below that occupied by the carriage 8. l

As in the application previously referred 'to,the carriage S'may be given a vibratory or reciprocating movement transversely of the machine body while the carriage 10 moves,

longitudinally with respect thereto, these movements being'accomplished by any desirablemechanism. Extendmg'betweenthese carrlages is a downwardly inclined deck 11, the upper face of Which is divided into a plurality of chutes ='by'having a number of ribs 12 extending upwardly therefrom. The carriage 8 supports r a plurality'of hoppers 13, by, for example, mounting the latter upon a rod '14 extending lengthwise of this carriage The chutes -pro vided on the upper faceof the deck are divided into groups corresponding in number tofthe number of hoppersprovided, this division being preferably accomplished 'by utilizing partition memberslo in'line with the space extant between the hoppersg Preferably-supported by the side walls 6 is a bar 16 which overlies the upper edges of the hoppers and-series of teeth 17 extend from the lower face of this barinto the hopper bodies at a point preferably adjacent the rod 1d,,it being noted that the support-c 'ing of the bar 16 may be effectedby having its ends bent downwardly and terminating in forked portions 18 which latter straddle bolts 19 to which they are clampedby wing nuts carriedjthereby. Ea'ch ofthe hoppers also preferably supports afbar 20 adjacent its forward end and these'bars'areiprovided with screw-threaded openings 'beyondwhich toothmembers or prongs 21 extend into the hoppers, the shanks of these prongs being 105 screw threaded and engaging with threads of the openings aforementioned. r Upon'th'e upper surface on thecarr'iage 10 a number of receiving'eompartments are provided. Each, of these compartments prefer- 'ablv includes a. rear wall 22 and sidewalls 23, both securedto the carriage l0. Brackets '94; extend upwardly from the walls and.

" mount a shaft upon which bell-crank lovers 26 are rockingly supported, the inner arms of these levers being slotted as at 2 7 and slidably accoinmodati g pinsQS to each of which a nest of partition members29 is attached. These latter partition ni'enihers correspond in number to the partition memhers 12 and are arranged in line therewith so that articles moving from the hoppers will pass downthe deck and fall into the reeptacles on the carriage 10 without diverging from the substantially straight path of travel:

The amount of moven'ient of which the partitioir members-are capable is exemplified in Figures 2 and l and should be' sufficient to permit of a-carton tray; 30' being moved into proper position when the nest of partitions has been elevated as in Figure 2. With the bell-crank levers thrownto the position shown in Figure 4 is will be obvious that the lower edges of the. partitions will extend into thehody of the box and conscqr'iently any articles falling between these'parti'tions will he delivered in-proper alignment within the box, and, furthermore, the latter will not,

move relatively to the carriage except when a the nestofpartitions hasbee'n elevated.

. In using a device of this character each i of the hoppers is filled with apredetermined I amount of pins or other articles wh'ich are to be assorted; I't will be' understood that while thehoppers are being filled they are preferably retained in the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2, in which position none of the articles will be disch arge'dupon thei'ippcr face of. the'deck 11., An operator.

may rock one of the bell-crank levers 26 and ijntroduce'a carton upon the carriage 10 and subsequently lower the nest of partitions so as to retain .the carton in proper position. Thereafter by simply [rocking the correspondinghopper around-the shaft '14 and to the position shown in full lines inpFigure 2 the-pins or other articles willbe discharged onto the deck and thence into the receiving compartmentat the base of which the carton or box is positioned. p y M It will be appreciated that during all of these operations the carriage 8 is ra )idly moving backwards and forwards in adirection transversely of themachine while the carriage '10 likewise moving in a direction longitudinally of the machine. Incident to the nflovcment of the first carriage the pins which have been thrown into the, hoppers in mass formation will gradually come to lie with their axes parallel to each-other and their bodies extendingitowards the delivery edge of the hopper.- When the latter has been tilted forwardly they will begin to "move towardsthis delivery edge and incident to the teeth l'Tjand 21" their alignment with respect to each other and the hopper will be established. In connection with the secondary row of teeth or prongs, i. e. the members 21, it will be understood that accordingto the amount of their projection or retraction the flow" ofth e' pins or other articles may be regv vith nicety so that a choking of the vari machine parts is thus avoided. As has been illustrated.portions of the runways may be enclosed by a' cover 31 which, for the sakeof convenience, isihingedly mounted so 7 that access ,may be had to these runways when and if desired, :Thus, even if the machine is vih ted to a marked extent the possibility of displacement within the runways will be reduced to a minimum and the articles will be discharged into the receptacles or articles will quickly assume. positions permitting of a maximum amount of the same being, packed in one carton. 7 Finally, it will be appreciated, in order to avoid any likelihood of certain of the pins, etc, falling into the space extant betweenthe frame members which supportthe nestof partitions and the side wallsof the receiving" compartments, that protecting strips 32 may be utilized in association with these rear walls. 7 a V Thus, among others, the object's specif- .'cally before-mentioned are accomplished, and since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different einbodiments of the invention could be' madewithout departing 'troin the scope thereof, it is intei'ided thatall inatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingshallybe interpreted as iliustrative 'andnot in a. lirrniting sense. 1

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specificfeatures of the invention hereindescrihed, and all statements of the scope of the inventionwhiehas a matter of language-might be said to fall therebetwecn. i J V i I Having. described my invention, what I Patent is: I

i l. Anassortingma-chine. for pins and the like, nclu oing n combination, a movable hon or means 'n'ovidin a l't (v ne coml C .s partment, means tor-effecting a delivery of 120 claim as newand desire to secure by Letters articles-from said hopper to said receiving i '3. An asserting machine for pins and the like, including, in combination, a base, vibratory supporting memberscarried by the base and at different levels, a plurality of hoppers carried by one of said supporting members and movable therewith, means providing compartments below said hop-' pers, means providing fixed chutes extend ing between said hoppers and receiving compartments, means associated with each compartment structure for removably accom- "modating a receptacle normally fixed with "respect thereto, and independent partition membersassociated with each of said compartment structures and movable therewith, said partition members normallyextending into the receptacles associated with said compartments.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, p

LEVERETT W; TIFFANY. 

